Anti-Zwarte Piet protest planned for Sinterklaas' arrival

By Janene Pieters on November 2, 2016 - 09:22

. ()

Anti-blackface group Kick Out Zwarte Piet (KOZP) plans to protest in Maassluis during Sinterklaas' national arrival on November 12th. "For us 2016 will be the last year that December has an aftertaste of colonialism, slavery and opression", the group said according to RTL Nieuws.

According to the KOZP, Zwarte Piet in his current form is a racist figure.

The group plans to protest on the square where the Sinterklaas parade ends, but they have not registered their protest with the municipality yet. "We want to conduct a peaceful protest and won't let us be challenged by opponents who find it annoying to see us standing there", a spokesperson said to RTL. Even if the municipality gives them a different place to protest, the group will "still stand in the square", the spokesperson said.

The municipality of Maassluis wants to talk to KOZP to ensure that "their demonstration can be as orderly as possible". This talk will also include a discussion on where they want to protest.

The municipality already gave a nother group permission to demonstrate. This demonstration is organized by the far-right groupo Nerderlandse Volks-Unie (VNU) and is titled: "I am not ashamed of Zwarte Piet. Stop the kids party haters."